Deepak Mankar back in Congress fold

Ignoring the criticism over supporting leaders with a criminal background ,the city Congress unit has withdrawn the suspension of corporator Deepak Mankar,who was suspended by the party in June last year following his arrest in a land-grab case. He was elected as a corporator in the Pune Municipal Corporation,but was sidelined after his arrest.

Mankar,who was a probable Congress candidate for the assembly polls,then contested the assembly polls in October as an independent candidate from the Kothrud assembly segment. He,however,lost to Shiv Sena candidate Chandrakant Mokate.

“The party has decided to withdraw the suspension of Mankar from the party since he has been released on bail and not proved guilty in court,” said city Congress chief Abhay Chajjed.

Mankar has alleged that it was a conspiracy by his political rivals to spoil his career. The Congress leader had been evading arrest initially but had to surrender after his anticipatory bail was rejected by a local court. He was later released on bail.

However,the state unit of the Congress has been distancing itself from the decision to take Mankar back into the party.